KRepton Editor Manual
The KRepton Editor can be used to create and amend episodes for the
KRepton game. It is an integrated part of the
KRepton game application.
Selecting an episode to edit
Select the episode to be edited as if you were intending to play the
game, then select
Game Editor
from the
Editor
menu. The editor window will appear showing the general episode
information.
Episode Information
From the Episode tab you can create, reorder and delete levels.
The episode name is set when you first save the episode; of course,
the password for the first level is never requested. You can also
change the time limit or the password for an existing level.
It is not (yet) possible to change the size of an existing level.
Create a transporter by specifying its origin position (which triggers
the transporter when Repton moves on to it) and the destination
position (where Repton reappears after transporting). The map must
have a transporter sprite at the origin position; the consistency
check will verify this and tell you if not.
When the levels and sprites are to your satisfaction, you can either
play the game immediately, by selecting an option from the
Game
menu, or save the episode using
Save
or
Save As
from the
File
menu.
The Map Editor
Edit a map by selecting the level in the scrolling list and then
switching to the Map tab.
The level is shown in the large scrolling view, with the current
coordinates of the mouse pointer; you can use these coordinates as a
reference when placing transporters. To place an object, select it in
the scrolling list of objects (the object graphic will be shown to the
right of the list) and then click the left mouse button over the map
to place the object. Click the right mouse button to delete any
existing object and place an empty space.
There are two display options which can be useful when creating or
modifying transporters:
-
Turning on the
Transporter Routes
check box will show the start and end point of each transporter
route. This is useful when placing the transporter sprite which must
be present at the starting point.
-
Turning on the
Selected Transporter
check box and selecting a transporter in the list will show the
start point of that transporter, marking it with a cross. This can be
useful in ensuring that the intended transporter to change or delete
is selected.
Changes made to transporters in the main editor window will be updated
and shown here immediately.
The Sprite Editor
Edit the episode's sprites by switching to the Sprites tab.
Select the sprite to be modified from the scrolling list, which will
be previewed at actual size to the right of the list and enlarged in
the sprite area. Place coloured pixels using the left and right mouse
buttons; the colours which each button will place can be selected by
using the Left and Right buttons below the sprite
preview.
The sprite editor should suffice for simple editing, but it is also
possible to edit the sprites using any other graphics application.
The sprites are contained in the sprites.png file (in the
standard PNG image format) within the episode directory. For
advanced sprite editing I suggest using the powerful GIMP (GNU Image
Manipulation Program), available freely at
www.gimp.org if you do not have it
installed already.
Consistency Checking
The consistency check checks the levels for the most common editing
problems, some of which are merely warnings but others which may make
the level unplayable. The check is normally done automatically when
saving the level (this can be turned off, see
Editor Options
below), or the check can be done manually using the
Check Consistency
button or the same option in the
Editor
menu.
The following checks are done for each level in the episode:
- The level password is specified (not blank)
- A valid time limit is specified
- One and only one Repton (start position) is present
- At least one finish level object (in the original
episodes, the bomb) is present
- For each transporter, their origin and destination coordinates have
been entered and a transporter sprite is present at the origin
- If cages are present, there must be at least that many spirits
to be caught in them
- If strongboxes are present, there must be a key to open them
- The passwords are unique for all levels in the episode
There are some other conditions which, while not necessarily making
the level unplayable, may cause problems for the player and so a
warning will be given:
- The transporter destination should be an empty space, otherwise
Repton may die or become stuck when using the transporter
- There is no bonus object (in the original
episodes, a crown) to be collected
- There are more spirits than cages for them to be caught in; it will not
be possible to catch all of them
- Eggs are present, but there are no rocks available to kill the monsters
Note
that the consistency check does not exhaustively test whether the
level is actually solveable (that would be a far more challenging AI
problem); for example, it would give no warning for this level:
Finished!
When the editing is complete, simply use Close to close the
editor. Alternatively, you may start playing the modified episode at
any time using one of the options from the Game menu.
Editor Options
There is a Check Consistency Before Saving option on the
Settings menu. If this is turned on, the check will be done
automatically before the episode is saved. This can be turned off to
allow partial episodes to be saved while work on them is in progress.
Note
that a check is always done before starting to play a level. If the
check fails for any of the reasons above, it will not be possible to
start the game; any problems must be fixed first.
Sources and Links
See the
game documentation
for further information.